A Man Walks Into A Bar...And Meets Himself

 So, I'm staying in Charlotte, NC, but the nearest place I can find a game is in Fort Mill, SC. 

Which is not much of a problem, because it's only 15 miles due south from where I'm staying.

I get a Lyft down to the Fort Mill venue (Barney's) and settle in there to play. The service and food are excellent and so is the game - except I really don't get to play as attentively as I would like because everybody in the joint is super friendly, from the first guy I meet (Tony, originally from Carlyle, UK), to Forest who took Tony's place after he left, to Donna and her friends who all grew up in the area. 

It was great meeting all these people, and it was great being in such a welcoming atmosphere.

Then Forest had to leave and his place was soon taken by Steve.

Who looked a bit like me. Quite a bit, actually. Same bulky ass linebacker build, same if-watermelons-were-rectangular-head shape,, same Jaw line even.

We looked at each other and paused.

I spoke up first, introducing myself and saying I was just here to play trivia, so forgive me if I should become aggro if I miss an answer. He replied that he too liked to play trivia, but tonight he was just there to have a few beers before going home.

We had both picked up on the physical resemblance.

We started talking about the game though, almost as if we were trying to distract ourselves from the obvious.

But then, somehow, we got on the topic of ancestry and I mentioned that my ancestors were from a small country on the Baltic.

Steve sat up a little taller in his seat and asked, "What country?"

I replied, "Lithuania".

Steve almost shouted. "What? My ancestors were Lithuanian too!"

He laid out a story of his grandfathers immigration from Lithuania over a hundred years ago that mirrored my own family history, except his grandfather settled in Lowell, Mass and mine settled in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Then we stood up and faced each other and literally we saw eye-to-eye.

Crazy. We spent the next 30 min. talking about our family histories until I had to go.

Brothers from another mother indeed.